The long winter is not yet over, but the first sign of spring in this part of the world is the CCL knockout rounds, and they are here to brighten our dark evenings a full fortnight earlier than they were in 2014 (when the quarterfinals kicked off closer to mid-March).

Monterrey celebrates the first of three consecutive CCL titles. When will we see the like again? (sportsworldnews.com)

Austin Fido's CCL preview series moves on to Group 5, and offers more information on Guyana than is strictly necessary...

Group 5 comprises three teams who don't seem quite as good as they were when they qualified: the Honduran 2014 Clausura champ, Olimpia, has shipped out several of itsbigger names since securing aCCL berth; the MLS 2013 Western Conference winner, Portland, has probably got to win six or seven of its last 13 games just make the 2014 playoffs; and the Guyana Football Federation National Super League title holder for 2012-13, Alpha United, has been having problems with rain.

Sporting Kansas City will have work to do in their final CONCACAF Champions League on October 23rd at Sporting Park. Tonight in Honduras, Olimpia defeated Real Esteli 1-0 to bring themselves to 6 points, one point behind Sporting KC, who sit on 7.

The game looked quite similar to Sporting KC's game against Esteli last week.

CONCACAF Champions League isn't close to approaching MLS-levels of competitive parity, but the third round of this year's group stage was one of those weeks in which conventional wisdom was confounded.

Houston Dynamo heeded OTF contributor Robert Suarez's call for a return to jerseys uncluttered by sponsors' logos, and Austin Fido brings you everything else you should know about the second round of CONCACAF Champions League group play.

CONCACAF held the draw tonight for this year's CONCACAF Champions' League. The draw as a held was filled with the unintentional humor that we've come to expect from CONCACAF. According to the rules, USA and Mexican teams could not be grouped together. But when the draw was done there were two US teams, Houston and LA grouped with Mexican teams, Tijuana and Cruz Azul.

When the Houston Dynamo headed to the locker room during Tuesday's CONCACAF Champions League match against CD Olimpia, they had reason to worry. Head coach Dom Kinnear had been ejected during the first half, Olimpia had taken a 1-0 lead and the Dynamo were going to have to comeback without their coach and without standouts Brad Davis and Will Bruin.

In the days leading up to last night's FAS/Olimpia match, there were several fairly ridiculous possibilities concerning what it would take for the Dynamo to advance to the knockout round of the CCL. Most of those were contingent on the likelihood that Olimpia would beat FAS and thus CONCACAF's tiebreaker rules would kick in.

The Houston Dynamo may have failed to win their last two MLS games, but that pair of poor results
did not stop them from grabbing a convincing victory in their CONCACAF Champions League opener.
The Dynamo got their campaign in the regional competition started with a 3-1 win over Salvadoran
club C.

In 1,000 years when future human culture is shown videos of soccer games of the early 21st century, tonight's game between Sporting KC and Olimpia will not be one of them. The game was ugly, with a number of fouls and questionable referee decisions. But the 0-0 draw was enough to see Kansas City through to the knock out rounds of the CONCACAF Champions League.

Tomorrow night is Sporting KC's final group game in the CCL. A loss and Sporting KC will be sitting at home when the knock out phase begins next year. Sporting need a result against Honduran champions, Olimpia.

In the last group match day, Olimpia needed a 66th minute strike from Anthony Lozano to get them a 1-0 win at home against Real Esteli.

Sporting Kansas City took complete control of Group 2 in the CONCACAF Champions League tonight in Honduras. In their second road trip of the competition, Sporting picked up a 2-0 win to give them sole possession of first place in the group. Sporting now return home for their final two group games, and have no excuses for not advancing out of the group stage.

While Sporting KC is on their third straight road trip, and on the road for the fourth time in the month of August, they have to feel better about tomorrow night's game not being in league play. In MLS play Kansas City has now lost four of their last five league games after their 1-0 loss in Chicago on Friday.

After a quiet start to the offseason, the rumor mill seems to be spinning in Houston.

Over the last few days, reports from the Honduran press said the Dynamo were in discussions with Olimpia for the services of 20 year old midfielder, Alexander Lopez. Lopez acknowledged there has been an offer made by Houston for his services, but added his future is in Olimpia's hands.

For those fans who made their way out to BBVA Compass Stadium (announced attendance 19,462), they definitely got their money worth. The most important fact of the night is this - with the 1-1 draw against Olimpia, the Dynamo have advanced to the CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinals.

I don't ever like to tell Dominic Kinnear what to do, but what the heck. There's a first or 50th time for everything. Dear Dom, don't sweat the CONCACAF Champions League match tomorrow night against Olimpia. It's just not worth it. Fortunately for Dom, arguably the greatest coach-general manager in Major League Soccer history, he Read More

There are eight games left in the Dynamo's 2012 MLS regular season. Eight games to get enough
points to stay in fifth place or better and avoid missing the playoffs for the second time in three
years. The odds are in the team's favor with several games left against non-playoff teams but after
last night's 3-1 loss at Chicago, everyone is right to at least be a little concerned.

While Houston extended their 21 match home unbeaten streak, it did not go as they had hoped, as
the home Dynamo side let a lead slip away in the final minutes. Toronto FC's Terry Dunfield evened
up the score in the closing minutes to tie up the match at 1-1, just five minutes before the final
whistle blew.

Another day, another CCL win for the Sounders. Seattle scored thrice in the 3-1 win over
Caledonia, providing the squad with a stranglehold on Group 4 of the Champions League. Around the
rest of the CCL, Toronto was in a relatable position, losing 3-1 to Santos Laguna. Los Angeles
hosted the Puerto Rico Islanders and took advantage of home pitch with a 4-0 pantsing.